Homes for Hope

Imagine having to feed your crying infant coffee grounds and Tang because there was no money for formula. Imagine laying that baby next to you on an old pizza box while you are working for eight hours picking through a mountain of garbage trying to find something, anything that you could recycle or sell. Imagine at the end of the day having to go home to a cardboard box that was your house.

Doesn't sound like a life we would want to sign up for does it? And yet hundreds of families live like this in Honduras. What can you do to change that?

In August, my husband and I are going with a group from our church and the Trash Mountain Project to Honduras to build homes for several of these families.  Yes, there is some apprehension with the thought of political unrest, customs, gangs, international airports, etc. But the thought of sharing Christ. Of moving a family from a cardboard box to a home. Of giving a family a real chance of survival. The opportunity to have shelter. Those thoughts outweigh the apprehension.

If you would like to help us on our way...to be a part of changing lives, we could use your help. We are raising support to the tune of $3600 for the two of us to go. We could use your prayers. We could use volunteers. Go with us. However you can help, we would greatly appreciate it. 

You can use the link on the right to make a tax deductible financial donation. You can pray now and until we return in August.  Changing the lives of families, building homes for hope that works for me. For more ideas that might work for you, visit Kristen at We Are That Family.

The end of the world as I know it.

To boycott or not to boycott? That is the question.

For all of my avid readers who log into their computers each morning in high hopes that I have written something that is entirely earth shattering and life changing, this may not be that post. However, this will definitely give you insight into my life and my thoughts, my dreams, hopes and aspirations.

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you may remember the utter joy I felt and blogged about way back in September when I discovered a copycat recipe for one of my favorite food items.  This item has been a time honored tradition for me to order almost every time I have set foot into this food establishment.

After an absolutely crazy Friday evening and Saturday day, we placed a telephone call to this food establishment to order multiple appetizers to serve as dinner. (We were simply too exhausted to cook anything that fell into our menu plan. Being up for over 30 hours will do that do a person.) My darling husband requested my good old standby order. His face and confusion will ever be etched in my memory of that car trip. The woman on the other end of the phone informed him that they no longer have that menu item. He took one look at the shock on my face and told the woman that he would have to discuss this with his wife and call back later.

Our conversation went something like this: 

"They don't have them any more. They took them off the menu." 

"WHAT? What is this world coming to? No more Shanghai aka Sweet Chili Boneless Wings?"

"Do you still want to order something from them? "

"Absolutely not. I am heart broken. Let's go to Beef's instead."

So my question, how do I continue to grace the doors of this food establishment when they have clearly done their best to alienate me as a customer by removing my favorite item off the menu? Do I boycott this restaurant? Do I lick my wounds and go there and order something else? The answer is not clear to me yet. I am still on the fence.  

The only good thing that I know will come out of this is that we may end up saving some money. We can recreate this fine food at home and have no fear we will do so! Long live the Sweet Chili Boneless Wing!

Menu Plan Monday

Saturday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup (Chicken Noodle Soup for the little one)

Sunday: Superbowl Party

Monday: Ham, Swiss, and Spinach Quiche 

Tuesday: Vegetable Ravioli Lasagna (from freezer)

Wednesday: Pit Stop (youth group snack bar)

Thursday: Monte Cristo Sandwiches (We used to love getting these at Bennigans before they all closed in our area. I'm excited to try our hand at making these ourselves.)

Friday: Penne with Sweet Peas and Prosciutto

Saturday: Fried Rice

4 down, 144 to go. I'm excited for this week's three new recipes. We'll keep you updated on this oh so exciting family cookbook adventure.

For more menu plans, visit Menu Plan Monday at www.orgjunkie.com

Raining with a Chance of Brie?

When we last left you, the smell of peas and bacon was in the air as pea pancakes were on the menu. Ah, those pea pancakes. My oldest was throughly disappointed when I explained that maple syrup was not one of the complimentary items suggested to top the pancakes. While the pancakes were not as bad as we expected, they are probably still not something we will add to our meal repertoire. I think we will stick with adding fruit to our pancakes instead of vegetables. (They sure looked pretty though.)

  

Not all of the recipes have been as interesting as the pea pancakes. We absolutely loved the Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil, and Mozzarella. The Parmesan Pork Cutlets were a hit as well. And JJ recreated the Cheesy Chicken Taco Casserole all by himself. (That last line just reminded me of a song. Pause for a commercial break while I sing the lyrics to All By Myself in my head. Okay, I really only know the chorus. I had to google the rest.)

No, we aren't cheese heads. Not in this house. (Go Colts!) Perhaps we are simply fans of meals with cheese? Is that cheesy to admit? I didn't do a post this past week for Menu Plan Monday. My time management skills did not allow me to do so. My free time was spent catching up on Chuck and NCIS. However the rest of this week includes soup at our good friends the May's house and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches on Saturday. Yep, more cheese. (Hmmm, I wonder if our cheese addiction is why I volunteered to bring the cheese and chips for the soup tomorrow night.)

Did you listen to the cheese weather man? It's going to be raining with chance of a slight bries

The irony of it all: certain members of our family who will remain nameless are lactose intolerant. Oh the cheese of it all.

P.S. Our apologies for not having a picture of the Parmesan Pork Cutlets. The vultures quickly devoured the Parmesan Pork Cutlets and broccoli with cheese before any pictures could be taken. We will do our best to not let this travesty happen again.

Tribute to Shakespeare

This blog is dedicated to my good friends: Kathy and Megan

O Blog, Blog, wherefore art thou Blog? How I hath missed thee indeed.

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. My time hath been consumed with numerous great endeavors. To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub. Very little slumber hath been had. Chaos is come again.

A thousand times good night! What's done is done.

New Season of Pysch

I'm so excited for the new season of Pysch to begin tomorrow! I'm ready for Sean and Gus to getback to their crime solving antics. Sad, it has switched to Wednesday nights, but thank goodness for DVR.

Making Memories in 2010

I have never pretended that our family was the typical, all-American family. We are definitely anything but that.... As a mom of three adopted children who had the blessing of meeting these children later in life and not at their birth, I am all about redeeming the time. I'd like to make the most of the time that I have. I want to make memories that will last them a lifetime. Memories that will make up for the ones that I wasn't there for. Memories that they will never forget.

One of the things we love to do as a family is eat. All of us, including the little one, like to put the food away. But we have eclectic tastes. They like peanut butter and syrup on their waffles. I like ketchup on my eggs. We may not have the same taste buds, but we share our love for adventure and trying new things. I'm always looking for new recipes to make.

During one of our many escapades shopping trips at Wally World, we purchased a new cookbook. (All of mine are still in storage until we get our house.) So of course, the crazy memory making mom that I am stated, "Wouldn't it be funny if someone tried to cook every recipe in this book in one year?" To which my oldest and youngest replied, "Let's do it."

I can't turn down a challenge. So yes, whether it sounds good or not. Whether it's something we've tried before or something we've never cooked with. We are in this for the long haul. 148 new recipes in 2010. Will we make it? Our family goal is to do so. I'll keep you updated along the way and if you are ever in the area for dinner, please stop by... you never know what we'll be having for dinner.

Tonight it's Pea Pancakes with Bacon.